Aristotle and Leonardo: Same Idea, Different Era
If you thought Leonardo was cool and smart and all other good things, just wait until you hear about the major ancient Philosophical Great that inspired him.
Leonardo was a big empirical thinker — he believed that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experiences. This mode of thinking was a big reason his interest in science was so strong. Rather than trying to read someone else’s experiences with opening up a human body, he decided to do it himself and record his own findings. His empirical mindset helped pave the way for modern science as we know it now.
One of Da Vinci’s biggest empirical inspirations was Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist. Aristotle wasn’t strictly an “empiricist” in the way we know it today (although he did study plants and animals extensively for the sake of knowledge and science), but he once said,
“What the mind thinks must be in it in the same sense as letters are on a tablet which bears no actual writing; this is just what happens in the case of the mind.”
In modern lingo, essentially the mind is a clean slate until we experience life through our senses, and our knowledge is formed and created from there.
Leonardo took this philosophy and ran with it. Aristotle’s belief in human potential is what helped develop Leonardo’s own perspective. Da Vinci once said,
“If you find from your own experience that something is a fact and it contradicts what some authority has written down, then you must abandon the authority and base your reasoning on your own findings.”
He believed that everyone had the ability to discover something new, if only they tried and put in the effort. No one’s “expertise” is set in stone, so there’s always room for improvement and new ideas. Basically, this is what the modern scientific method promotes.
With this vibe in mind, go out. Discover something. Look through a telescope and confirm for NASA once and for all if Pluto is still in the planetary mnemonic or not.
Citations:
Allen, Reginald E. “Greek Philosophy.” Google Books, Google, books.google.com/books?id=ENjYgBzREYUC&pg=PA300&lpg=PA300&dq=What%2Bthe%2Bmind%2Bthinks%2Bmust%2Bbe%2Bin%2Bit%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bsame%2Bsense%2Bas%2Bletters%2Bare%2Bon%2Ba%2Btablet%2Bwhich%2Bbears%2Bno%2Bactual%2Bwriting%3B%2Bthis%2Bis%2Bjust%2Bwhat%2Bhappens%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bcase%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bmind.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=YJBL_hAxkT&sig=ACfU3U1cVXsDILlQhad1syGxyuFmwbI-2w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRkNuXkPPnAhWPg3IEHXg1AXIQ6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=What%20the%20mind%20thinks%20must%20be%20in%20it%20in%20the%20same%20sense%20as%20letters%20are%20on%20a%20tablet%20which%20bears%20no%20actual%20writing%3B%20this%20is%20just%20what%20happens%20in%20the%20case%20of%20the%20mind.%E2%80%9D&f=false.
Duignan, Brian, et al. “Empiricism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 22 July 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/empiricism.
Matuk, Camillia. “Seeing the Body: The Divergence of Ancient Chinese and Western Medical Illustration.” Northwestern School of Education and Social Policy, www.sesp.northwestern.edu/docs/publications/6074956944509ac426aaa6.pdf.
Shields, Christopher. “Aristotle.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 29 July 2015, plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/.
